Radley Loves Manchester

Monday, 4 April 2016

When I heard that there was going to be a new Radley store opening in the Manchester Arndale Centre, I just could not wait to see what it was going to be like. Luckily for me, I have been working with Radley since December, when I was invited to dinner in Liverpool to check out their store at Liverpool One. So guess how super excited I was when they invited me to have an exclusive preview of the new Manchester store, a whole day before it was open to the public! I did my usual little dance of excitement, and brought out my ever growing collection of beautiful Radley bags, to decide which one was coming with me!

Before the store preview, we were treated to a beautiful lunch at Evelyn's Cafe in the Northern Quarter. I'd never been myself, but had heard nothing but great reviews from my friends, so couldn't wait to get there. It's an absolutely stunning space, and a blogger's dream, with copper details and plants on every wall. The intense and wonderful smell hits you as soon as you walk in, I was ravenous already! I chose the chicken skewers which came with gluten free noodles, which was a total bonus, as I'm used to leaving half a dish due to my intolerance. They were incredible, so fragrant, and the mixture of textures from peanuts and spiralised vegetables was something I hadn't experienced before with total gluten free goodness! I'm usually on bland unimaginative food, so it was a real treat! On the place settings were our very own bouquet of beautiful flowers from Frog Flowers, which are now in pride of place in my room.

It was then on to the store itself. The new Radley store is on the ground floor of the Arndale Centre, opposite Topshop and near the big Next. When we arrived, we were treated to chocolates (from the amazing new Lindt store next door) and had the chance to have our 'Radley Loves MCR' tags personalised with our names. The new store is beautiful, so colourful and refreshing. The staff truly went above and beyond, and knew everything there was to know about the brand and each individual bag. The stars of the show had to be the two Radley dogs, Monty and Dixie! They were loving life, getting fed sausages and having their tummies tickled. Before we left, we were told we could choose any of the bags to take home with us! Totally spoiled again, and it took me a good 45mins to decide as I just love them all!

A massive thank you to all at the Manchester store and to Lauren and Shona who always make sure us bloggers have an amazing an experience. I'm so proud to work with a brand that I genuinely love and to work with people who I now call friends.